The State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services shall not take any compliance, disallowance, penalty, or other regulatory action against a county, as long as the United States Department of Health and Human Services has not taken any compliance, disallowance, penalty, or other action against the state, with respect to any error in the county’s determination to make an individual eligible for benefits under the Aid to Families with Dependent Children, CalFresh, and Medi-Cal programs based on citizenship or immigration status, under any of the following circumstances:
(a) The county has determined the eligibility based on a verification of satisfactory immigration status by the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
(b) The county was required by federal law to provide the applicant or recipient a reasonable opportunity to submit documentation.
(c) The county was required by federal law to wait for the response of the Immigration and Naturalization Service to the county’s request for official verification of the immigration status of the individual.
(d) A fair hearing process was required pursuant to federal law.
(Amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 227, Sec. 41. (AB 1400) Effective January 1, 2012.)